Sci-fi + Architecture = Awesome! January 6, 2011
Posted by gregchiaramonti in Architecture, Computer Graphics, Inception, Movies, Pop Culture, Science Fiction, Tron Legacy, Virtual Worlds, Visual Effects.Tags: 2010, 2010 movies, Architecture, Ariadne, Cobb, Disc Wars, dreams, filmmaking, Inception, Joseph Kosinski, Kevin Flynn, Light Cycle, limbo, Mal, Paradox stairs, Paris, Penrose stairs, Quorra, Science Fiction, The Grid, TRON, TRON: Legacy
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[Above: My classic Flynn and Light Cycle toys from the original TRON]
Happy New Year to one and all!
I was just reflecting back on 2010, and I had an epiphany about something. I realized that my two favorite movies of the year, TRON: Legacy and Inception, possibly warrant a new genre of fiction (or at least a sub-genre of sci-fi). They both blend ideas of science-fiction and architecture.
Now, I guess sci-fi movies have always had a strong element of architecture on display, as part of the fun of envsioning new worlds of the future is designing what structures and vehicles will look like. However, I feel that these two recent movies use architecture as an integral element and a major focus of the events that unfold (or in the case of Inception, the city of Paris appears to fold in upon itself). In Inception, one character, Ariadne, is actually an architect of the artificial dream worlds where the action takes place. In TRON: Legacy, Kevin Flynn was the architect of the virtual world where he eventually becomes trapped.
The director of TRON: Legacy, Joseph Kosinski, was a professional architect before turning his skills to filmmakng – first in commecials, and then with TRON: Legacy as his first feature film. You can see in the framing of his shots how the architectual elements play a major role, especially the scenes in Kevin’s iconic mountain sanctuary (which does pay homage to Dave Bowman’s hyper-dimensional experience at the end of 2001). There’s an interesting shot of a zen pool in a space viewed between the windows of Sam’s (guest) bedroom and Quorra’s room within the sanctuary. And another subtle shot of Quorra from below the water of a small pool in the main room of the sanctuary. Many of the “programs” seem to merge themselves into the structures around them when they are not in use, such as the Sirens who outfit Sam Flynn for battle in the Disc games. In general, TRON: Legacy takes place in a world where architecture is fluid and truly defines the space where the action plays out – the architecture is really a character in itself.
In Inception, the architecture of the dream space is used to manipulate the subconsious of individuals, hoping to either unlock their subconsious secrets, or plant new ideas in their minds. The secrets are usually represented by a room containing a safe. The way that the symbolism relating to the dreamer’s mind is embedded in the architecture is fascinating and provides this film with a depth that definitely requires repeated viewing. I love the scenes within the “limbo” level, where Cobb and Mal recreated their previous real-world homes within a vast city of echoing skyscrapers. I often dream of my childhood home, so this scene had much resonance for me. Even some of the key action sequences in the movie involve a unique architectural element, such as the paradox (Penrose) staircase.
So what should we call this new genre, or sub-genre, of science fiction? Architectural Futurism? Well, doesn’t have to be about the future, I guess. Sci-tecture? Archi-fiction? Sci-fi-chitecture? Scichitecture? Hmm, any other ideas?
I think you’re on to something: the two movies definately have some similarities in that they both present architectural transformations. Flynn builds only sanctuary, whereas whatever Cobb builds is inhabited by his own ghosts. Don’t forget about The Matrix and Dark City…the latter has very close architectural ties to Inception. Yet I always read Dark City more as allegory than fiction, the main character being stuck in his own assumptions even as he learns to shape reality in small ways, until he is finally able to create vast changes in his lifescape. With The Matrix, architecture is malleable as well as a method of social control and enforcement. I think for a long time movies have asked interesting questions about the spaces we inhabit, and how we structure them. I would date the trend back to the cityscapes of Metropolis, and through Blade Runner as well. These earlier films are a reaction to modernity, but even Blader Runner with its towering sprawl and artificial lifeforms lives within the confines of its own assumptions. No building spaces are redefined. These newer movies allow for the manipulation and transformation of space and posit a different relationship between the architect and what he/she inhabits.